Happy Halloween!

Halloween, like any holiday, is so much fun with kids. We had so much fun this year having TWO little ones to enjoy all the weekend festivities with.
~

~
Friday night: Pumpkin Carving Party!
~
To kick off the weekend, Jayden really got into our annual family pumpkin carving night. This is one of my favorite nights of the year. We don't just carve pumpkins in our family, we make a party out of it - complete with homemade chili, potato soup, cornbread, a brownie and ice cream bar, and all those generally delicious fall foods! After all, everything's better when you make a party out of it!
~
This was Jayden's first year to pick out a design, help "scoop the goop" out of the pumpkin and really get into the whole thing. He had a blast (while being carefully supervised by Daddy, of course).
~

~
Jayden wanted to carve a kitty on his pumpkin.
~


~
Abbie just wanted a taste of the pumpkin, carved or not...
~

~
Of course, Justin, Deanne and Katelyn wouldn't miss out.
~

~
And Kate brought her friend Madison to help carve too.
~

~
Dad, Mom and Grandma Souza (Great Grandma to my kids) came and watched everyone carve their pumpkins and make sure that Abbie didn't get burried in pumpkin seeds.
~

~
Justin's sister, Heather, and her family joined us again this year. Only this time they brought their new little "pumpkin" Ethan with them. Awh!
~


~
Then comes the fun part! After all the carving (and eating), we lit our pumpkins and "ooh'd and aah'd" at the end result.
~

~
Saturday night: Trick-or-Treat!
~

~
"Argh! Trick or Treat, please." That was how Jayden, errr, Captain Jayden, greeted folks Saturday night as the cutest pirate...EVER!
~

~
He had fun trick-or-treating, although he got a bit "scardy" at some of the house decorations. But he was a pretty brave little fella overall and was, of course, drawn in by the promise of more candy! And sister Abbie, who was a fluffy little giraffe (thanks, Auntie Nett for the costume!), just cruised along and had fun watching big brother and taking in the scenery. She was a total champ.
~


~
After pillaging some of the local neighborhoods, we headed over to Vinewood Church for a harvest party that had games, toys and candy galore. Jayden had a great time riding cars, jumping in the bounce house and racing around to any and all of the different activities he could.
~

~
As you can imagine, we had one amped-up almost-3-year-old and one pooped-out almost-1-year-old by the time we made it home. But we made back, eventually, and we're making our way through the sea of candy quite nicely, thank you very much!
~
Hope your Halloween was as fun and festive as ours! Happy fall, everyone!
~